Greek Medusa Protector Averting Evil Guardian Statue

Greek Medusa Protector Averting Evil Guardian Statue

This Medusa statue shows the fierce female deity with hair of snakes and the body of a serpent. In Greek mythology Medusa's name means guardian or protector.

She is called a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto.

Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield.

In classical antiquity, the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.